Your parents have probably told you from a young age that if you don’t want to do something, then doesn’t do it. How would you feel if someone was coming at you with chains and whips forcing you to perform in front of an audience, after you made it clear that you didn’t want to perform? This is exactly what animals across have to endure on a daily schedule. The first zoo in the US opened on July 1st, 1875 in Philadelphia, 140 years later the treatment in animals in zoos has not changed dramatically. America’s first circus opened on April 3, 1793, approximately 220 years ago. It’s been over a century since these establishments first appeared on US and no laws have been created to protect the abuse that the animals in the establishments receive. …show more content…
A recent documentary has shown the conditions in which the orcas are kept and how they are trained and prepped for show. SeaWorld’s reason keeping orcas in captivity is for the use of research purposes yet scientists have access to killer whales at all times of the days and have released few research papers on killer whales. For the past 40 years, SeaWorld researchers have been released 46 papers on killer whales, half of which were published before 1990, and only seven since 2010. The more interesting part of these research papers, is that they concentrated on wild whales from Alaska to New Zealand, rather than the whales they kept captive, which leads me to the fact that rather instead, there is no reason for SeaWorld to keep whales captive for their “research” purposes if their main concentration is on wild whales. An analysis done by the Whale and Dolphin Conservation that between 2004 and 2012, the SeaWorld & Busch Gardens Conservation Fun invested $550,00 in the killer-whale science and conservation. In 2012, SeaWorld earned $77.4 million alone on just ticket sales; if they make so much money in just one year, how are they not able to use more of that money for the researching with orcas since after all, one of the few reasons that they’ve kept the killer whales in captivity is to be able to do research on
The trainers along with Cowperthwaite believe to have them in a captivity like SeaWorld is inhumane. I agree with this documentary, Blackfish. This documentary gave a perfect visual representation on why I do not like having animals in a cage or in a small area. Having animals captive, working hard, and hardly fed is wrong, especially only allowing them in a small area to roam. Watching this documentary made me feel sympathy toward these poor animals that must go through with this harsh life style. Just like Cowperthwaite, I strongly believe the orcas shall not be held in these small areas and be allowed to live in their natural
Second reason why they shouldn’t be kept in a captivity. You can’t recreate on orcas natural environment. The pods sea world cannot hold 40 or more whales which are usually in a pod. If it holds 40 orcas they will make more babies and after their gonna be so much whales and the water won’t hold that much whales. Because whales are the size of bus school and is just like 40 bus
After watching Blackfish, if you could only take one thing from the film it should have been that orcas are being kept in captivity under cruel conditions for the sole purpose of their investments and profits off of them. The film starts off with a 911-phone call as the person on the phone explains what is happening. We hear two different calls, one call about a trainer being in the water when they are not supposed to and another call about a whale eating a trainer. At 00:35, the first call has a woman on the line saying, “We actually have a trainer in the water with one of our whales-the whale that they’re not supposed to be in the water
The whales are usually pregnant for 15 to 17 months; but having young every 2 to 6 years. In captivity about 163 orcas have died. As well as about 30 miscarried or stillborn calves (“10 Things…”). SeaWorld force breeds the orca’s. They do this by having the animal lye on its back while they masturbate it. The people take the sample and put it inside of a female (“The Fate of…”). They do this to make the numbers of orca’s they are capturing to go down. In all actuality they are making things worse. They have inbred these animals. They don’t know what it could do to the baby inside of the mother. It could come out with some type of deformation, and the wiring in their brains could become
Some argue SeaWorld is not a problem, because it is good enough for research, because SeaWorld gives them protection from the outside world where they wouldn’t survive as long, or that being kept in a pool simply doesn’t affect them physically or mentally. SeaWorld is inhumane to Orcas. They do not take care of their physical or mental health, it causes the animals stress and anxiety, and causes them to be aggressive, leading to deathly situations. SeaWorld’s biggest pool is forty feet deep, which may seem large to us, but not when you’re a twenty foot whale that is used to swimming hundreds of miles a day. Keeping Orcas in captivity is not in any way good for their physical or mental health.
People believe that it is no different than training a dog to perform tricks in order to receive a treat as a reward. Some scientists and ecologists also believe that rather than leaving some orcas that are abandoned by their pods, these orcas would be able to live out their lives in captivity. Captivity is not always a bad thing for many wild animals. In fact captivity is what has helped to save the lives of many endangered species and has allowed them to survive and be seen thousands of people around the world. Orcas are an especially hot topic in the science and ecology fields across the globe. Orcas are the largest member of the dolphin family and are extremely unpredictable creatures in the wild. These facts being true makes it extremely difficult and nearly impossible to study the lives and mannerisms of killer whales in the wild. Simply because of this some scientists believe that it is best to hold some orcas in captivity in order to study them and learn more about the psychological stages and happenings in the population as a whole. In some cases it is best for the orcas to be in captivity. The United States Fisheries have set rules and regulations that ensure that all the marine life that is held in captivity has a purpose. This purpose must be educational in some form. The fisheries also mandate that the tanks the orcas are held in are kept at a certain standard to
SeaWorld a leader in the captivity and use of killer whales for entertainment has counterattacked the points made by the documentary Blackfish, which brought many points to light. For example, SeaWorld asserts “that while research suggests that some wild killer whales can live as long as 60 to 70 years, their average lifespan is nowhere near that,” (source). In the wild, average lifespan is 30 for males, 50 for females, and can live up to be 80-90 years old. In captivity, in such environments as those at SeaWorld, most orcas die in their teens or 20s and only a handful survive past 25. The annual mortality or death rate for orcas is 2.5 times higher ...
Yet these people do not stop to consider what is going on behind the scenes when they are watching the dolphins and whales swim and dive through the water with their trainers. If one were to approach a trainer and ask about the abuse that these animals suffer every day in order for them to perform their shows and tricks, the trainer would say that it is an educational and necessary aspect to keep the animals in captivity. They would also defend these abusive acts by speaking of the information they are gaining of the animals and how they can use this information to help those in the wild. This is due to their own ignorance that they would say such terrible things about these intelligent yet helpless animals. These animals endure much more torture in captivity than most people would like to admit to themselves. Furthermore, the “facts” that the trainers tell the visitors of SeaWorld are untrue. For example, as one sees in the movie Blackfish, the trainers do not give accurate facts regarding life span in and out of captivity as well as the percentage of the collapsed fins
However, SeaWorld’s rhetoric attacks the scientists and trainers within the film more than the data. One of SeaWorld’s central targets is Dr. Lori Marino. SeaWorld presents its trump card with the statement that “the film portrays Marino’s statement as if it is the opinion of the scientific community. The Journal of Zoo and Aquarium Research recently published a paper that discusses the history of this very issue. Killer whales in captivity have an excellent standard of living and have access to food and state of the art medical care." Once again, SeaWorld’s wording is key to its rhetoric. By wording this phrase in a specific order, SeaWorld infers that the Journal of Zoo and Aquarium Research paper supports killer whale captivity. However, this is not the case. The paper states that “we are barely catering for the high cognitive skills of of marine mammals." It does not fully advocate the captivity or release of marine
Imagine wanting not a puppy, but a tiger for your birthday, imagine the expenses of that tiger and the dangers and hazards of owning that tiger. Do you really think it’s a good idea to get that tiger? No, it’s not. It’s a lot of work, and it’s also very dangerous. Exotic animals are not good to buy and have. If you buy that cute tiger, it will eventually grow up and not be so cute, it will be dangerous and strong, it’s also a wild animal and it’s very unpredictable, also there are many diseases you can catch from that tiger, and there are many dangers of having that tiger as well. (Long sentence)
The capture and control of a breathtaking and majestic creature such as a killer whale is a very tedious subject. Most of the general public would enjoy viewing a show where these giant mammals jump out of the water and perform stunning tricks for viewer satisfaction. But what the public doesn’t see, or realize is that these animals could be severely depressed and could be lacking mandatory stimulation through social bonds and other factors the ocean could give them rather than an oversized bath tub. The ethicalities of keeping such an intelligent animal like an orca in captivity has been under scrutiny for years in the marine biology community. Despite the controlled environments for orcas, these environments cause psychological and social problems to the animals and are worse than nature. There is a distinguishable trait in killer whales in captivity that doesn’t appear in whales in the wild, the dorsal fin of the animal in captivity almost always droops over to one side or the other, and less than one percent of all whales in the wild have been recorded in having this trait. This could be directly related to the depressing life an orca in captivity faces in a closed off world with limited stimulation from the animals incredibly in depth social attributes.
An orca, more commonly known as a killer whale, is currently one of the largest marine animals held in captivity. Countless arguments are being made, supporting and opposing captivity of orcas to be exploited as circus animals in theme parks around the world. Throughout recent history, Sea World trainers have been injured and killed by the orcas and the whales, and the whales themselves have been observed as severely depressed. If Sea World releases the whales, they would undergo an immense economic downfall and the whales would be too weak to survive in the wild if they were freed. Since the first Sea World park opened in San Diego, California in 1964, common questions have arose concerning the well-being of orcas in captivity, the dangers of humans training them, the physical capability of whales theoretically being released, and the psychological differences between whales living in the wild versus whales living in Sea World's confinement.
According to the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, 7.6 million companion pets enter animal shelters across the United States each year, nearly evenly disrupted between dogs and cats . These animals are abandoned for reasons including families no longer being able to care for them (sickness/death of an owner), to families not wanting them (the novelty wearing of the animal wearing off), to the animals being born into puppy mills to finally animals that are loved being lost from their owners. These animals do not understand what is happening to them and rely on the kindness of humans to provide for them in shelters until their forever home can be found.
They claim that having Orcas in captivity is a good thing because the population is endangered; they say that the research they can do is just not possible in the wild, but at the same time how are they helping the population? Yes they breed them, increasing the population but what good does that do when they keep them locked up and use them to make money? SeaWorld. From the Animals: Captive, but not Contained article by Talal Al-Khatib. Animals may be captive in cages and pens, but that doesn’t mean they are contained, as was demonstrated in 2010 at Sea World.
Zoos display fascinating animals from all over the world for human entertainment, research, conservation, and education. Many scientists conduct studies on animals in captivity that they may not have been able to in the wild. Zoos educate all the visitors that come; they let people know everything that they know about the animals on display. We do learn a lot from these animals, but not all of the animals in the zoo are behaving like they normally would in the wild. Larger animals, such as elephants and orcas (commonly known as killer whales), have trouble with being confined in such a small area. However, many smaller animals benefit from zoos because they provide protection from predators, natural disasters, and poachers. They also benefit from conservation efforts; the babies being born get all the care they could ever need. Some animal rights activists are concerned that the conservation efforts are limiting the gene pool of the species. They argue that the small number of animals able to breed in captivity limits biodiversity and leads to weaknesses in the species overall. Zoos are wonderful places to study and learn about animals, but we need to improve the living standards for animals that struggle with captivity.